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MedifastforVegetarians

From Medifast’s Director of NutritionAchieving optimal health and weight control is not always a “one-size-fits-all” equation. Lifestylechoices and medical conditions can affect both your food preferences and requirements, which inturn have an impact on how you can best lose weight.The Nutrition Support team at Medifast has created additional programs to meet individualneeds and accommodate a range of medical conditions and lifestyles.Medifast began with physicians and other health care professionals developing a safe, effectiveweight-loss method with lasting results. Decades later, the program and products continue toevolve. We thank you for choosing Medifast.

People who choose to follow a vegetarian lifestyle can meet their weight-loss goals withMedifast—while getting excellent nutrition.In general, vegetarianism is a healthy lifestyle choice. Vegetarians have been shown to have lower ratesof blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer. Compared with non-vegetarians,those who avoid meat, poultry, and seafood also tend to eat lower amounts of saturated fat andcholesterol, and higher amounts of fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such asvitamins C and E.1The American Dietetic Association has suggested that fortified foods like Medifast Meals can behelpful in meeting recommendations of individual nutrients for those on a vegetarian meal plan. Sowhether for weight loss or weight maintenance, Medifast Meals are a great choice for vegetarians!Defining “vegetarian”A vegetarian is a person who chooses to not eat meat, fish, fowl, or products containing these foods.Reasons for this choice may include health, ecological, religious, or economic concerns, as well ascompassion for animals.Types of vegetarians include:Lacto-vegetarians (from the Latin “lacto,” meaning “milk”), who eat milk and milk productsbut exclude eggs.Ovo-vegetarians (from the Latin “ovo,” meaning “egg”), who eat eggs but exclude milk andmilk products.Lacto-ovo vegetarians, who eat both milk products and eggs. This is the most common formof vegetarianism in the United States.Vegans, who exclude ALL animal-derived foods(including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairyproducts) from their diets and may also avoidother animal-derived products such as wool,silk, or leather.Medifast Meals do not support the needs of avegan lifestyle because they contain either eggor dairy ingredients.1The American Dietetic Association. “Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: vegetarian diets.”J Am Diet Assoc. 2003; 103: 748-765.1

Vegetarian NutritionThe ideal vegetarian meal plan supports good health and overall nutritional status. Eating five MedifastMeals a day provides at least 100 percent of the daily value for 24 vitamins and minerals (includingvitamin B-12, vitamin D, iron, zinc, calcium, and riboflavin).Some vegetarians may be concerned about consuming adequate levels of protein, vitamin B-12,vitamin D, iron, zinc, calcium, riboflavin, and omega-3 fatty acids. Following a well-designed meal plancan help ensure that vegetarians get these nutrients without compromising their lifestyle choice.Following the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan with meatless Lean & Green Meal options can provide at least 72grams per day of high quality protein from non-animal sources.Vegetarians can get heart-healthy omega-3s through non-meat sources like ground flaxseed or flaxseedoil. “Designer” products like omega-3-enriched eggs are also available and can be included as part ofthe Medifast 5 & 1 Plan or a healthy maintenance meal plan.Medifast for Vegetarian LifestylesMedifast Meals and other products: Medifast has many vegetarian-friendly products. Medifast’s vegetarian-friendly products may contain egg and/or dairy, but do not containmeat, fish, fowl, seafood, or any such derivatives as ingredients.The Lean & Green Meal: Many typical vegetarian or meatless protein sources (legumes, nuts, and seeds, forexample) are too high in carbohydrates to be included on the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan. Our Lean Options List and our Meatless Options List provide vegetarian-friendlysuggestions for the “lean” portion of your Lean & Green Meal.2

MEATLESS OPTIONSYou don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy meatless Lean & Green Meals! The following list providesalternative “lean” choices other than meat. Please note: Meatless options generally provide morecarbohydrates than a typical serving of lean meat. The options below have been organized toreflect their relative carbohydrate levels. To help ensure that you remain within the fat-burning statewhen incorporating meatless options, we recommend eliminating your optional snack, reducing thenumber of carbohydrate-containing condiments you consume, choosing vegetables from the lowercarbohydrate section of the Green Options list, and consuming lower-carbohydrate Medifast Meals(examples include Fruit Drinks, Cream of Chicken Soup, Cream of Broccoli Soup, Chicken NoodleSoup, Scrambled Eggs, Plus for Diabetics Shakes, Plus for Joint Health Shakes, and Plus for CoronaryHealth Shakes). We update our Meatless Options List periodically to reflect changes in nutritionalinformation from the manufacturer. Please ask your Counselor for an updated version.YVC Yves Veggie CuisineSodium levels for meatless portions are represented: 250 mg of sodium*LEANEST:LEANER:2 Healthy Fat servings needed.1 Healthy Fat serving needed.LEAN:No Healthy Fat servings needed. 14 egg whites 2 cups (16 oz) EggBeaters 2 cups (16 oz) AllWhites 2 whole eggs 4 egg whites 2 whole eggs 1 cup EggBeaters 6 oz (1-1 2 cups shredded) low-fat cheese 3 whole eggs 4 oz (1 cup shredded) moderate-fat cheese 1-1 2 cups (12 oz) 1% Cottage Cheese 2 Boca Meatless Burgers Original 6 MSF Veggie Sausage Links 15 oz Mori-Nu Silken Extra Firm Tofu 3 MSF Veggie Sausage Patties (regular or maple) 8 oz (1 cup) part-skim ricotta cheese (1-1.5 oz grams fat/oz)(3-6 grams fat/oz) 2 MSF Grillers Prime Veggie Burgers (2-3 grams fat/oz) 15 oz Mori-Nu Silken Firm Tofu 3 Boca Cheeseburger patties 2 Boca All American Flame Grilled Burgers LEVELMSF Morningstar Farms 2 MSF Grillers Vegan Burgers 2 Boca Grilled Vegetable Burgers 2-1 2 YVC Lemon Herb Chicken Skewers 1 pkg YVC Heart’s Desire Meatless Beef Strips 1 pkg YVC Heart’s Desire Meatless ChickenStrips 10 YVC Heart’s Desire Meatless Smoked ChickenSlices 10 YVC Heart’s Desire Meatless Deli TurkeySlices Brand name productsare subject to changes iningredients and nutritionalcomposition by theirmanufacturers. These productsare only suggestions. Aproduct is appropriate onthe Medifast Program if thenutritional information meetsthe requirements listed inthis chart: 24 MSF Meal StartersTM Chik’n Strips 2 cups MSF Meal StartersTM Sausage Style RecipeCrumblesTM 2 cups MSF Meal StartersTM GrillersTM RecipeCrumblesTM 1-1 2 cups (12 oz) 2% cottage cheese 2-1 2 YVC Meatless Chicken Burgers 3 Quorn Naked Chik’n Cutlets 8 YVC Meatless Roast without the Beef Slices Calories5 & 1 Plan800-1,000“Lean”portion of Lean & Green Meal250-300Fatat least 10g but less than 30gN/AProteinmore than 70gmore than 25gCarbsless than 100gless than 15g (the lower, the better) 2 MSF Tomato & Basil Pizza Burgers 2 MSF Grillers Original Burgers 15 oz Mori-nu Silken Soft Tofu 2 Veggie Patch Bistro au NaturelTM Family SizeMeatless Garlic Portabella Burgers (91 gram patty serving size) 12 Veggie Patch Meatless Meatballs 12 Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs C A R B O HYD R AT E(71 gram patty serving size)*Levels are approximated. Current dietary recommendations for sodiumis less than 2300 mg/day for most individuals and less than 1500 mg/dayfor individuals with special health or dietary concerns. Boca Burger is aregistered trademark of Boca Foods Co. Mori-Nu is a registered trademarkof Morinaga Milk Industry Co. Morningstar Farms is a registeredtrademark of Kellogg Co. Yves Veggie Cuisine is a registered trademark ofYves Veggie Cuisine, Inc. Quorn is a registered trademark of Marlow FoodsLimited. Veggie Patch is a registered trademark of Food Tech International,Inc. Trader Joe’s is a registered trademark of Trader Joe’s Company.3

Vegetarian-friendly Medifast productsOvo-vegetarian (ovo-vegetarians consume eggs, but not milk): Ready-to-Drink Shakes (all flavors) Oatmeal (Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry,Maple & Brown Sugar) Scrambled Eggs Other products (not Medifast Meals):ooooFlavor Infusers (all flavors)Crackers (all flavors)Soy Crisps (Apple Cinnamon)Brownie with real chocolate chips**May contain milk.Lacto-vegetarian (lacto-vegetarians consume milk, but not eggs): Medifast 55 and 70 Shakes (all flavors)Ready-to-Drink Shakes (all flavors)Crunch Bars (all flavors)Maintenance Bars (all flavors)Oatmeal (all flavors)Puddings (all flavors)Cream of Tomato SoupFruit Drinks (all flavors)Iced Teas (all flavors)Hot Drinks (all flavors)Pretzel Sticks (all flavors)Cheese Puffs (all flavors)Lacto-ovo vegetarians can use ANY of the Medifastproducts listed above.4 Specialty Shakes:o Plus for Appetite Suppression Shakes(Chocolate)o Plus for Diabetics (Chocolate, Strawberry)o Plus for Coronary Health (all flavors)o Essential1: Calorie Burn Meals (all flavors)o Essential1: Antioxidants (all flavors) Other products (not Medifast Meals):o Flavor Infusers (all flavors)o Crackers (all flavors)o Soy Crisps (all flavors)

Sample Meal Plans for Lacto-ovo vegetariansDay 1:Breakfast: Medifast Scrambled EggsMid-morning: Medifast Apple Cinnamon OatmealLunch: Medifast Caramel Crunch BarMid-afternoon: Medifast French Vanilla ShakeDinner: 1-1 2 cups 2% cottage cheese over 1 cup romainelettuce (or other salad greens) and 1 2 cup cucumber,drizzled with 1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinaigrette (Healthy Fatserving); serve with 1 2 cup steamed broccoli on the sideEvening: Medifast Chocolate PuddingDay 2:Breakfast: 2 whole eggs plus 4 egg whites made into anomelet with 1 2 cup cooked spinach, 1 2 cup diced tomatoes,and 1 2 cup diced bell peppers, 5-10 green or black olivesMid-morning: Medifast Honey Mustard Pretzel SticksLunch: Medifast Cream of Tomato SoupMid-afternoon: Medifast Tropical Fruit PunchDinner: Medifast Dutch Chocolate ShakeEvening: Medifast CappuccinoOther helpful resources for information on vegetarianism: Medline Plus: html Food and Nutrition Information Center, USDA: ian.htm Vegetarian Resource Group: http://www.vrg.org5

For more information about this specialized program, call (800) 509-1281.Medifast for Vegetarians 2010: Medifast, Inc. Owings Mills, MarylandMD-GUI0510 Vegetarian

Evening: Medifast Chocolate Pudding Day 2: Breakfast: 2 whole eggs plus 4 egg whites made into an omelet with 1 2 cup cooked spinach, 1 2 cup diced tomatoes, and 1 2 cup diced bell peppers, 5-10 green or black olives Mid-morning: Medifast Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks Lunch: Medifast Cream of Tomato Soup Mid-afternoon: Medifast Tropical .